You know how people who exercise are just the worst sometimes? They’re so peppy and energized about all of their fitness accomplishments.

The team at 9 Clouds is kind of becoming “those people,” but before you completely write us off, let me explain why we’re using fitness to build our team and how you can do the same for your office.

You can decide if we suck at the end of this post. 

Why Do We Work Out?

Let’s start with why we ever considered working out in the first place.

9 Clouds is based in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, an awesome city in a questionable climate. We got two inches of snow on Monday, April 2. Winter really hangs on up here.

Because of that, we’re prone to the winter SADs (seasonal affective disorder), and exercise is a positive way to counterbalance the SADness of living in a tundra.

The wise Elle Woods said it best:

“Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people don’t shoot their husbands.”

. . . Or yell at their kids. Or flip off bad drivers. You get the gist.

Taking Elle’s advice, a group of us decided to set the goal of running a marathon relay together. Others in the office have personal goals of doing yoga daily, taking walks with our beloved pups, or going to Zumba every week.

In order to meet these goals, we had to acknowledge our limiting factors. What’s the one thing standing in the way of achieving these goals? For many of us, it wasn’t the actual exercise that was the problem; it was starting.

We started a group Slack channel to keep each other accountable and adjusted our calendars to accommodate our new routines. This removed the mental block and helped goal become habit.

Turning something into a habit requires you to commit — whether it’s reading 10 minutes a day or committing to 15 minutes of cardio.

So, I came up with a handy chart for those of you who want to achieve a workout goal but are struggling to start. (Remember, I’m a project manager, not a creative, so let’s not talk about my design skills.)

Should You Work Out Today?

You get it: A new venture requires commitment every day to become habit.

This doesn’t mean you have to run a marathon relay like the crazy team here at 9 Clouds. You can take up yoga (which is actually really good for stress), swimming, weight lifting, walking, volleyball . . . anything to get your body moving and make those happy little endorphins.

Will Wellness Benefit Your Business?

You’re convinced now, I’m sure. Working out is good for your physical and mental wellbeing, so you should obviously do it. But what does it have to do with business?

At 9 Clouds, we find wellness impacts our work. 

It’s helped us build up an even stronger team bond. In the aforementioned Slack channel, we share ideas and give each other positive reinforcement for our fitness efforts. The strong arm emoji is getting lots of love these days.

We’re building community around a shared goal that’s outside of our company’s bottom line, but that’s not the only benefit. 

Research shows businesses that invest in their employees’ wellness can actually save money in the long run. Employees who make their health a priority are often more productive and typically incur lower health costs.

I’d love for this post to inspire you to start a wellness program at your business. Maybe you start with a lunchtime walking club. Or maybe you offer employees a discount on fitness club memberships. Or maybe you go all in and sign up for a team run together.

But what I really hope you take away is that your team can create community together. Fitness is helping 9 Clouds bond right now, while we challenge and support each other’s efforts, but we also have a shared community around pastries at Queen City Bakery and our own Donut Club.

And I think it’s our love of carbs and fitness that gives us the balance to be likable exercise enthusiasts. You can decide if we’re tolerable still. ?

Keep Up with the Clouds

Our team is using this energy boost to produce some of our best work ever.

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